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This hymn feels like when I cry out to God for guidance.
“Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.
When my way grows dreary, precious Lord, linger near, when my life is almost gone, hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand lest I fall.
When the darkness appears and the night draws near, and the day is past and gone, at the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand.”
I am sitting at church listening to the other members chatting nearby a counter with brownies and other snacks. Here is the group confession for today.
“God, our provider, help us. It is hard to believe there is enough to share. We question your ways when they differ from the ways of the world in which we live. We turn to our own understanding rather than trusting in you. We take offense at your teachings and your ways. Turn us again to you. Where else can we turn? Share with us the words of eternal life and feed us for life in the world. Amen.
The line about believing that “there is enough to share” made me think of how greedy we get sometimes. I feel more secure when I have money saved up. But, I think some people get to the point that they constantly need more and more in order to feel safe. I like the fact that this guides me to pray for the ability to feel safe in what I have while I share some of it with others.
My pastor at St Luke’s Lutheran Church in Waukesha shared this prayer with us.
Lord God, I am facing a difficult decision in my life and I do not know the road to take. You have given me the awesome power to choose freely as well as the intelligence to choose wisely. Inspire me to make the right decision no matter what it may be.
As I walked home from church today, a familiar urge filled my heart. The words of one of the hymns sparked my desire to pray for the world again.
It is titled O God of Every Nation (713 in the ELCA hymnal).
“O God of every nation, of every race and land, redeem your creation with your almighty hand; where hate and fear divide us and bitter threats are hurled, in love and mercy guide us and heal our strife torn world.
From search for wealth and power and scorn of truth and right, from trust in bombs that shower destruction through the night, from pride of race and station and blindness to your way, deliver every nation, eternal God, we pray.”
I think these two verses describes us and our world so well. When the pandemic began and the Ukraine war began, I felt this need to pray for our world. Yet, I struggle to even know what to ask for. Peace from war and hatred? Healing from illness? A reprieve for those who are suffering due to illness, wars, poverty and natural disasters? Guidance for the leaders of each and every nation?
I cry out for easy answers and easy fixes. Yet, God seems to listen intently with no response.
Here is a short quote from another song titled God of Grace and God of Glory (705)
“Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour…Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the living of these days.”
We, as a world, need Your guidance and courage to live in these chaotic times. Please grant this to us.
Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending,
by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.
Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lutheran Book of Worship 1978
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
And the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it, trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in his life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen. Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
I had heard the beginning of this prayer read aloud at support groups. Then, I joined overcomers’ outreach which is a Christian twelve step group. I was shocked when I heard the whole prayer.
Sometimes, I feel like Sunday has a theme to it. I was thinking about today’s theme on the way home from church.
I read a devotional (Chris in Our Home) that my church keeps by the information desk. Here is a quote from today’s entry (March 26th).
“I am moved by times Jesus himself felt alone and forsaken. These episodes in scripture remind me in my most desperate moments that the triune God is with me, understands me, and accompanies me as I navigate rough terrain”. The writer’s name is Mary Jo Anderson.
This quote filled me with the hope that Jesus will be with me always just as he promised at the end of the book of Matthew. “…I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, NKJV)
At church, we heard about the pain and suffering that Jesus experienced as He died for us.
May Jesus be with you always. When you need His presence the most, I pray that He will reassure you that He is beside you through his word and the people who love you. For we all need His loving presence to get through the tough times of our lives. Amen.
O God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Book of Common Prayer, 1662